Ch. 57 Movements

Saori sits up after a few more minutes of resting and decides that she has to get moving again since time is running out for her plan. She decides to use her shadows to leave this area but unfortunately for her, Kotori and Tohka reenter the room to check on her and are both immediately acting to get her immobile with Tohka and Kotori both summoning their powers and holding Saori down and her shadows aren't strong enough to subdue them.

Kotori grabs Saori by the hair, lifts her up, and threatens her "If you try to leave, we're gonna make sure you won't be able to move for a while."

Tohka nods with a very unhappy look on her face as she adds "We're not close to forgiving you for what you did to Shido and Aki. They're gone because of you."

Saori is clearly at a disadvantage because she can't beat them in her current condition and gives in. She knows they won't kill her. After moments of this, and her husband arrive at the scene in confusion due to the intense scene. But they must have their reasons.

But still not happy, Shido demands "Hey, get off of her. She's barely in any condition to move and already you're picking fights with her." He states this with clear anger at the two which causes them to back off and then they notice Saori's bandages on her back.

Saori sits back on the bed because her injuries are acting up a bit. Shido further explains how bad the wounds actually are since her burns are crippling even after Tohka healed her a little but her powers aren't meant for healing. Saori is even having a hard time breathing properly as she pants and sweats a lot.

Seeing this, Kotori asks "What happened to you? I thought you could reverse time and fix those wounds. So what's the deal?"

Saori grits her teeth and doesn't answer but does have a flashback.

Earlier- Prime Timeline

Saori watches from the shadows in DEM headquarters. She can sneak in at will by using her warping abilities and makes sure to not be seen as she is a secret ally of Shinra's. She watches as Aki appears from a warp in his inverse form holding an unconscious Asami over his shoulder. Seeing this causes her to become angry. She moves back from the shadows to make it to Shinra.

Shinra sits in his room with Miya reading her comics in the background. Saori emerges from the shadow with an angry look as Shinra seems to be expecting her.

She walks up to him, grabs him by the collar, and demands "Shinra, what the hell!? I just saw Akihiko with my sister over his shoulder. I thought you weren't going to involve her or Reiji." She shakes him a little violently.

Shinra just takes it and responds "Saori…when I saw you jump off that building, I truly believed you needed to be saved. Then I gave you that new personality to cope with your hardships, but it appears I made a mistake when I did that."

Saori's more timid self is still inside her mind and is trembling from remembering her suicide attempt because she would have died if Shinra hadn't helped her and her new personality helped her, but to him, it was a hindrance.

Saori puts him down, pulls out her swords, and threatens him "I'm not asking again. Why did you have Akihiko kidnap my sister!? Tell me, or I'll slice off your head!" Saori holds her swords up to his throat in a cross position.

Shinra takes a breath "Saori, I was really praying that you wouldn't betray me again. Because I didn't want to hurt you, but…" his sentence is cut short when a loud lightning blast echoes.

Saori's eyes widen and she drops her swords while her breathing turns heavy. She looks behind and sees a hand sticking out of a black vortex and Sora emerges with a crackle of black lighting coming from her body and she is in her spirit form. Saori falls to her knees with her body jittering from the shock.

Shinra picks himself up, brushes off his clothes and shakes his head "You've been planning to betray me since the start, haven't you? You murdered that Miku because you knew it would upset me, you joined their team to manipulate Shido and Kurumi into a relationship, and you tried to bribe me with Akihiko when your plan failed."

Saori, desperate, summons her guardian and summons the corpse of Artemesia Ashcroft to put a territory up and uses it to flee in a swift second before anyone can react. Miya closes her book and smiles a little, which is the indication that this was her idea.

Outside the building, in the dark of the night, Saori appears from her shadow but is in extreme pain from that bolt. She has a hard time seeing because her vision is blurred by the intensity of her injury. She can't reverse time on herself since Shinra took that power from her. She stumbles around and tries to think about what to do next. But then she hears the sound of thunder and lightning and looks to see that Sora is generating a storm with her power, she can tell because the lighting is purple and blue in the sky. Not left with a lot of time, Saori summons a dark portal and then jumps through it with what strength she has left.

Inverse Tohka Timeline

Saori lands outside the Itsuka residence and that's when she had the idea to seek refuge. She struggles up the stairs, breathes heavily, and is about to collapse when she manages to get to the door, and that's when she was found by Shido and Inverse Tohka.

Present

Saori sits silently because she has nothing to say on that matter, but Tohka can barely contain her anger towards her as her power begins to radiate.

Tohka, tempted to attack, angrily asks "Why did you attack Shido, why did you force Aki into that dark form, and why do you hate us so much? I'm not leaving until I hear your reason."

Saori smiles a little at hearing that last question because she was asked that same question by her sister. Her smile doesn't seem to please Tohka.

Finally caving in a little, Saori replies "Fine, I'll tell you why…."

But before they can hear why Kotori hears gunshots from her communicator and this instantly worries her.

Bifrost

Ryouko stands firmly with some smoke coming from her gun and looks at the sight of Origami catching the bullets as they steam in her hand from the speed she needs to catch them.

Ryouko puts down her gun and states "You've just proven it now. Tobiichi is good, but she isn't that good. So why don't you tell me who you are?"

Origami grits her teeth, but then hears footsteps and turns to see Shiori, Miyuki, and Kenji approaching. This gives her an idea as she tells them "I think that Captain Kusakabe is losing it. She just shot at me!" She says this while running towards the others in a way of getting defensive. She runs behind the others so Ryouko can't risk shooting at her again. The others aren't prepared to trust her on her word without proof.

She has to somehow prove to the others that the woman behind them isn't Origami Tobiichi, but how. Then she remembers something. "Look at her forehead. The real Tobiichi, any real Tobiichi that joined the AST should have an implant on her forehead in case of an emergency. It's tiny but visible" She suggests to the others.

Shiori and Miyuki don't get it, but Kenji clearly understands, so he turns to Origami, and approaches her. Origami backs up a little like she's afraid, but Kenji is now almost determined to see it. He quickly jumps and flips up her hair to see her forehead but what he sees is quite different from what Ryouko said. It isn't an implant but a tattoo that reads CWM-O and this reveals who she is.

The imposter punches Kenji and sends him across the hall and reveals herself to Shiori and Miyuki. She isn't happy with this reveal and scratches her head with frustration. She then mutters under her breath "I was supposed to keep this up until we found everyone at her reveal." She trembles with anger at this and then an ominous glow emits from her body.

Shiori assumes her Spirit form in defense and tells Miyuki to get behind her for safety and cover her ears. The glow the covers the imposter's body begins to form a new outfit for her that resembles an astral dress, but different. A black pair of pants with gold trimmed boots and a white long-tailed coat with brilliant gold accents and a crown design on her collar and a pair of gold trimmed gloves. Her hair grows a little longer and she assumes a fighting stance.

She dashes up to Shiori swiftly, punches her once with her palm, and then uses her other palm and pushes Shiori away with a great force "Reaper's Toll" she announces while Shiori is blown away and the imposter runs away. Miyuki starts to become upset at seeing Shiori get hurt. But Ryouko needs to take care of the imposter and equips her realizer and readies her blade, which is similar to Ellen's new sword but the beam is white. Shiori gets up and runs with Ryouko because she may need help. She urges Miyuki to stay with Kenji, who is going to make sure the imposter can't leave through the teleporters and she can't leave through a portal without the risk of being followed.

The imposter reflects on the situation while running away "I should have never agreed to play the role of Origami Tobiichi. DEM didn't think I could do it. But I can't think of that now. No, I need defeat these two and make my escape."

She picks up some speed then begins to attack the room to disconnect the lights, which begins to obscure the area a bit, so she begins fading in the dark. Ryouko puts more effort into her running to catch back up, but Shiori isn't exactly a fit person so she can't keep up properly.

Ryouko moves forward more to catch up but she loses sight of the imposter. Then, a crossroad appears for four ways, so Ryouko needs to decide fast, but the imposter is actually hiding in the ceiling above her and waits for her to make a move. The fight between them has only begun.

Kurumi Timeline

With their team ready, Shido alongside the real Origami, Kurumi, Karen, and Lucius decide they need to make their next move. Origami would rather just back home now and deal with the masked man Shinra immediately. But the others are against due to Ellen being on the opposite side. Karen is sure she can't beat Ellen as she is now, especially since she doesn't spend that much time fighting in her timeline. Lucius is also sure he can't beat her, but this worries Shido even more since Kokoro is shown to be stronger than Ellen.

So Shido suggests "I say we meet up with my team again. They aren't the best fighters, but then least we'll have numbers. Besides, I'm sure Tohka is worried about me and Aki."

Origami clearly doesn't like the idea, but everyone else is for it. Working with spirits is one of the most difficult things ever for her, but this isn't a normal problem. She can't argue with everyone else despite her personal problems.

Shido then says he'd like to say goodbye to the Itsuka family of this timeline since they were so kind to him and took good care of him and Kurumi during their time before going. It doesn't take long for him and Kurumi say their goodbyes to their older selves. But Kurumi seems a little changed from meeting this older self of hers.

But now it's time to meet the ship they'll be using, a smaller than the Bifrost, but a proper vessel called the Voluspa. It's a warship based on the Goetia's specs but it is only suited to holding small teams of four, but they'll make due. Just like the Bifrost, the ship is equipped with a time bracelet installed by Lucius and the ship itself is piloted by Karen.

Shido sits in a passenger chair while Lucius manages the recon seat, Karen in the pilot seat, and that leaves the matter of Kurumi and Origami. They stand in front of Shido and he senses an argument about to start since one of them has to share a seat with him.

Kurumi simply smiles and says "Shido and I are the obvious choice to share a seat. I am a delicate thing after all." She gets that sultry look in her eye as she says this.

But Origami doesn't seem fazed and responds "Nothing delicate about you. Shido needs to share a seat with someone who can actually protect him and keep him safe."

"But I've shared a bed with him multiple times already, or didn't he tell you?" Kurumi rebukes.

Shido quickly gets defensive about that "Okay, I was not conscious when that happened!"

Kurumi giggles a little "Oh, Shido, you should really learn to be more comfortable with things like this. I mean, look how many children we have in this timeline, but in the Origami one, you and she only have three."

Origami argues, calmly "The number of children I have doesn't mean our intimacy is any less present. I wouldn't be surprised if it was better than yours. In fact…"

This argument goes dark places that we don't want to talk about, in the end, Karen decided on the seats, so Shido is sharing a seat with Lucius as the navigator and help with the map. Kurumi and Origami now have their own seats and Shido gets to bond with a new teammate.

But with everything that's happened, Shido can't fail anymore because he can't live through what happened again. Being forced to shoot Saori was one of the worst things he's ever done and but it was so scary for him.

"Okay everyone, I'm preparing the time jump, so make you're secured," Karen announces and everyone gets ready for the jump.

After a few seconds, the ship opens a giant vortex big enough for the ship that they travel through to head towards their next timeline and hopefully find the team again.